“Women want to feel heard,” Damien Sachs, an advertising agency executive, tells his copy writers in “Ladies First,” a topsy-turvy, workplace comedy that teases the ongoing skirmishes of the sexes, starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike.
“Women want to be heard,” Alex, the lone woman at the conference table, counters politely. Damien promoted Alex only the day before because the chief executive of the beer giant Guinness was planning on firing the agency for its lack of “female representation.” Now, Alex has the temerity to believe that she’s in the room to contribute.
The ensuing argument between Damien and Alex — which tracks through the agency’s sleek offices, down the escalator and onto the street — abruptly ends when Damien bonks his head on a pole. (The film is based on the 2018 French rom-com “I Am Not an Easy Man.”) When he awakens, it’s to a world stacked against his ilk — by women. Up is down, bosses are women, Burger King is Burger Queen. But most undermining of Damien’s identity: Alex has his position in the agency. It’s a world gone mad.
The director Thea Sharrock and her cast have arch fun flipping the script — especially Richard E. Grant as the pigeon poop-stained fellow traveler who offers Damien a way out of his nightmare and Fiona Shaw as a chief executive tempting a #HeToo lawsuit. Only the easy feminism of winks and role reversals quickly wears thin. Most of the movie takes place in Damien’s head after all, and much of its lessons are about his growth. Why does that sound so familiar?
Ladies First Rated R for sexual material and language. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Watch on Netflix.
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